Crooked Stave’s latest bottle release, an old world saison, comes in a small package: a 375 milliliter bottle that retails for around $6. The Denver wild and sour brewery’s next offering – another saison called Surette – will be packaged the same way. For that matter, so will every bottled beer rolling out of brewer Chad Yakobson’s place for the foreseeable future.

Down in the San Luis Valley, Three Barrel Brewing Co. will take the same approach with its soon-to-be-bottled sour beers bound for Denver and points elsewhere. It is getting its bottles from the same Canadian company that supplies Crooked Stave.

Adventurous high-end beers typically come in big packages – either 22 ounce bombers or 750 milliliter cork-and-cage bottles. But on a (so far) small scale, brewers like Crooked Stave and Three Barrel are favoring smaller bottles, seeing an advantage in reducing volume and cost to attract curious drinkers and perhaps open doors at finer restaurants.

â€śWe’ve done sours in bombers now for six months and it’s a pricey bomber because it’s 22 ounces of sour – and itâ€™s a lot of sour,” said Will Kreutzer, general manager for Three Barrel Brewing in Del Norte. “When someone buys that, you are typically with 2 or 3 people to drink it. This reduces the price point and makes it more palatable to purchase.â€ť

All of Crooked Stave’s bottles were 750 ml until late last year, with the release of the Saison and the golden sour ale L’Brett D’Or. Yakobson said his change of heart came after trading e-mails with Russian River Brewing Co.’s Vinnie Cilurzo. Russian River abandoned 750 ml bottles for 375 ml bottles and saw its volume sales increase 20 percent, Yakobson said.

With shelves more crowded, consumers unversed in Crooked Stave might hesitate at dropping $15 for a large bottle, Yakobson said.

“We’re still Crooked Stave,” he said. “We’re not Odell or New Belgium. We are still a shot in the dark.”

The 375 ml bottle (or 12.7 ounces) is “a perfect size to have by yourself or share over dinner,” he said. There’s a space advantage, as well, with two times as many bottles on the shelf. Yakobson said he worried about backlash – people are used to those large bottles and used to sharing them – but he said staunch collectors and traders have approved.

Another motivating factor: Yakobson said Crooked Stave has plans to distribute to Denmark and Sweden, where consumers are used to buying single beers in smaller packages and larger bottles tend to sit on the shelf.

The lower price point and smaller bottle could entice restaurants that put care into their food to think the similarly about beer, he said.

“Restaurants should strive to a higher level of beer, too,” Yakobson said.

So Yakobson decided to commit, configuring his custom-built bottling line to the 375 ml bottles. There are no plans to return to 750 ml bottles, he said.

[media-credit name=”provided by Three Barrel Brwing” align=”alignright” width=”270″][/media-credit] Three Barrel has a series of seven sours.

Both Crooked Stave and Three Barrel get their 375 ml bottles from Montreal-based United Bottles and Packaging, which also does a steady business with homebrewers. The bottles can either be crowned (and waxed and foiled, even) or corked and caged.

Kreutzer said Three Barrel was looking for something a little different and distinctive – another way to stand out in a crowded field – in the vein of Pyramid’s Apricot bottles or Sierra Nevada’s signature look.

“It’s nice, more unique look, and more versatile,” Kreutzer said. “They just stand out a little bit better.”

As I’m a lone beer drinker and rarely have anyone to share a bottle with, this is great news! I appreciate the difference in price too as that has always kept me from being able to try everything I was interested in.

Red_Geologist

Ok on the sizes, but Don’t Make the mistake that doomed KKKoor’s Killians Red. Using 11 ounce bottles priced too high for the weak product!

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In Colorado, our pint glasses overflow with excellent beer. New breweries, new batches, festivals every other week. How lucky are we? First Drafts is The Denver Post's beer blog aimed at helping you keep tabs on the state's ever-expanding craft beer culture. We offer a mash of news, event coverage, homegrown stories, tasting notes and tips to help you imbibe. Expert drinker or homebrewer? Let us know what you're loving about Colorado's beer scene. Not sure exactly what a firkin is? No worries, let us be your guide. Go ahead. Belly up and drink it in!